Sewing-needle



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

JOHN WILOOX AND S. I-I. WHITRIDGE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SEWING-NEEDLE.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No. 11,769, dated October 3, 1854.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that we, JOHN VILooX and STEPHEN H. VVHITRIDGE, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in the Construction of Needles for Sewing; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making a part of this specification, and which represents a longitudinal section through a needle drawn on an enlarged scale.

The nature of our invention consists in the production of a new article of manufacture or commerce, viz: a sewing needle the shank of which is formed of gold, and'the point of irridium, the two metals being worked and put together, substantially in the manner hereafter to be described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, .we will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawino'.

The wire, from which the shank a of the needle is made, is drawn down to the requisite size, by any of the usual well known methods, but instead of being annealed or softened, it is left perfectly hard. It is then cut off ninto proper lengths for the needles designed to be made, and planished with a hammer on that end where the eye is to be made. The eye 7), is drilled and burnished, and a groove made above and below the eye', by a small circular file. The shank or main body of the needle is now ready to be pointed which is done as follows, viz: A small hole is drilled in the extreme end of the wire, which may be cylindrical or conical, and the irridium c out of which the diamond point, as it is usually termed, is to be made, is set or placed in said hole or cavity, and

soldered therein. As irridium is found in small granules, and cannot be fused, the particles to be used are selected with care, and with a View to theirsolidity-the imperfect granules being worthless are thrown away. The irridium may be reduced to a point by the use of diamo-nd dust applied on the face or periphery of a copper lap made to revolve at the rate of seven or eight hundred revolution per minute.` Or, by applying fine emery mixed with oil, it may be reduced toany desired formthe latter being the cheaper method. After the point is properly formed the needle is polished and rougd, and it is iinished.

It is found that, gold is more durable than steel for the stem or body of the needle. It is not so hard, but suiciently hard for the purpose-is not so liable to be broken, and does not corrode. The point will not become dull, and although the first cost of the article may be greater than the ordinary needle of commerce, still in the end they will be found economical-and particularly so in machine sewing, where the needles are often of a peculiar form, and when once adjusted to the machine their durability is of very great importance.

Having thus fully described the nature of our invention, and shown how the same may be carried out, what we claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent as a new article of manufacture, is-

A sewing needle, the stem or body of which is made of gold, and the point of irridium, the two metals being reduced and united substantially as described.

JOHN W'ILCOX. STEPHEN H. VHITRIDGE.

'Witnesses J. F. JOHNSTON, STEPHEN F. SIMMONS. 

